In Good and Bad
by ChristineThalassinou1990
Summary: Despite being master and Padawan for long years, sometimes Qui-Gon still needs a reminder that his Padawan is there for him, whatever happens.


**In Good and Bad**

Somewhere around 4 am, a sudden wave of anxiety woke Obi-Wan up from his light sleep. Even in his drowsy state, the Padawan didn't have to think too much about the source of the unpleasant feeling: his master.

Qui-Gon got back from a 3-week-long solo mission a few days ago, and since then, he hadn't been entirely himself. He was tense, distressed, jumpy, always on edge, and simply couldn't sleep through the night. Obi assumed something terrible happened on that mission, but Qui-Gon didn't speak about it; he hadn't even mentioned the mission, not for once since he got back.

Obi hated this; it seemed it didn't matter that they had been master and Padawan for over seven years by now, and Obi was an adult in his own right, being twenty, Qui-Gon still didn't consider him a close enough of a friend to share his troubles with him. Still, whatever shitstorm hit them, Obi was with him faithfully, hoping that one day Qui-Gon would finally learn that he wasn't alone with his pain, be it anything.

The Padawan yawned as he crawled out of the bed, searching for a T-shirt in the process. He was determined to make Qui-Gon talk at last and help him to feel at least a bit better.

Obi stalked out of his room, trying to be as silent as he could, but Qui-Gon wasn't in the common area, neither in the kitchen; however, the Padawan heard a soft noise that he soon identified as crying coming from his master's room. Obi felt his heart breaking; Qui-Gon truly was a mess now, but as he used to do every single time, instead of asking for help, he suffered alone.

 _Okay... We won't be playing that for much longer_ , Obi thought as he quickly prepared a cup of hot tea then went to Qui-Gon's room and walked in without knocking.

Qui-Gon sat in the corner of his bed, hugging his knees to his chest and crying his heart out. Obi went straight to the bed and settled next to his master, stroking his shaking shoulder to make him look up. Qui-Gon jerked away at first, startled, but when he saw that it was just his Padawan, he calmed a bit, wiping his face quickly. He looked like a real mess: red, teary eyes with dark circles under them, pale face, messy hair.

"What's wrong?" Obi asked gently, offering the cup of tea to his master.

Qui-Gon just shrugged, cradling the cup, again staring down, not willing to keep the eye contact with Obi.

"Don't do this... please! Something happened, that much is obvious" Obi went on, moving closer and hugging his master when he noticed the tears running down on his face. "Why wouldn't you tell about it? Not necessarily to me, but... You'd feel better if you talk, you know."

"It'll pass..." Qui-Gon whispered, shrugging again and wiping his face with the sleeve of his shirt.

Obi could've slapped him for a second.

"No, it won't" he said, almost snarling in desperation. "If you just run away from it, bury it deep, it'll only come back to fuck you up even more. Please, master... Tell me what happened to you. I'm sure you've already realized that I'm a quite good listener."

Obi felt a spark of hope when Qui-Gon smiled, even so faintly, at the last sentence. Of course, he knew. Every time when he finally had enough and began talking, Obi was there to listen to everything and comfort him.

In the next second, Obi felt a gentle probing through their mental bond, and he let Qui-Gon in without the slightest of hesitation. His master rarely used the bond for extended communication, still, for some reason, now he felt it more comfortable. Obi was fine with it; whatever made Qui-Gon talk, after all.

Soon he learned that his master was sent on a quite dangerous mission where more than one attempt had been made on his life, and in these incidents, many innocents died. Qui-Gon felt responsible and guilty, of course, but no one could help it anymore. He had to find a way to cope with it.

"It'll get better..." Obi murmured, knowing that it was the biggest cliché he could've come up with; but he couldn't say anything else that would've been at least remotely true.

Qui-Gon didn't even answer just wept silently into his shoulder, but soon the Padawan felt him gradually going limp in his embrace as he tired out and slowly fell asleep, still clinging to Obi.

"It's gonna be okay... I'm here for you" Obi whispered before drifting off himself.

 **The End**


End file.
